Drain strainers may be found in virtually any environment where food and beverages are served. Many passenger vehicles, for example, aircraft, trains, and ships, are equipped to serve food and beverages to the passengers. To facilitate such services, the vehicle may be equipped with a galley in which the food and beverages are handled. The galley may be equipped with a catch basin (or sink) to allow convenient disposal of waste fluids. An important consideration in the operation of such food and beverage services is the continued operation and successful maintenance of the plumbing associated with the catch basin, as well as attention to environmental or waste processing concerns (e.g., not dumping solid waste from a moving vehicle). Thus, the plumbing may be equipped with a removable drain strainer that strains debris and particulates from the waste fluids, thereby preventing clogs and other associated plumbing problems.
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a galley 10 in accordance with the prior art. The galley 10 includes a counter surface 12 having a catch basin (or sink) 14 disposed therein. The catch basin 14 is coupled to a first conduit 16 coupled to a support wall 18. A drain strainer assembly 30 is attached to the support wall 18 and is fluidly coupled to the first conduit 16. A second conduit 20 is fluidly coupled to the drain strainer assembly 30 and leads away from the drain strainer assembly 30 to, for example, a holding tank (not shown).
FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate additional, enlarged views of the prior art drain strainer assembly 30 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drain strainer assembly 30 includes a housing 32 coupled to the support wall 18 by a plurality fasteners (not shown) inserted through a corresponding plurality of mounting holes 42A-C. Two left mounting holes 42A-B are aligned vertically and separated by a first distance, d1, and a right mounting hole 42C is laterally offset from the two left mounting holes 42A-B by a second distance, d2. A strainer member (or basket) 34 is removeably inserted into the housing 32 and secured by a pair of wing screws/bolts 36A-B. An elongated o-ring 38 provides a seal between the housing 32 and the strainer member 34.
In operation, waste liquids dumped into the catch basin 14 flow through the first conduit 16 and pass through the strainer member 34 of the drain strainer assembly 30, where the strainer member 34 captures relatively large debris and particulate matter from the waste fluid. The resulting strained fluid then passes out of the drain strainer assembly 30 through the second conduit 20. For cleaning and maintenance of the drain strainer assembly 30, the strainer member 34 may be withdrawn from the housing 32 by loosening the wing screws/bolts 36A-B and pulling the strainer member 34 in a lateral direction indicated by arrows 40. The strainer member 34 may then be inverted over a waste receptacle to discard the debris and particulate matter through an opening at the top of the basket, then washed and rinsed. Once the strainer member 34 has been emptied and cleaned, it can be inserted again into the housing 32 and secured by tightening the wing screws/bolts 36A-B. As shown in FIG. 2, the top wing screw/bolt 36A is smaller than the bottom wing screw/bolt 36B to prevent a crew member or other user from erroneously inserting the strainer member 34 into the housing 32 upside down.
Drain strainer assemblies 30 of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are widely-known and commercially-available. Desirable results have been achieved using the prior art drain strainer assembly 30. However, improvements may be possible.
For example, the drain strainer assembly 30 involves a substantial number of components, including the housing 32, strainer member 34, wing screws/bolts 36A-B, and o-ring 38. Some of these components, especially the wing screws/bolts 36A-B, can be misplaced during use, which may render the entire drain strainer assembly 30 inoperable until one or more suitable replacement components can be obtained. Therefore, it may be desirable to reduce the number of components associated with the drain strainer assembly 30 to minimize down time due to lost parts.
In addition, the prior art drain strainer assembly 30 frequently begins leaking after an extended period of use. When such leaking occurs, crew members or other users have a tendency to over-tighten the wing screws/bolts 36A-B in an effort to prevent further leaking However, due to the elongated geometry of the strainer member 34 and the o-ring 38, such over-tightening actually causes the middle of the strainer member 34 to flex away from the housing 32, which compromises the seal between the strainer member 34 and the housing 32. As a result, over-tightening the wing screws/bolts 36A-B frequently causes undesired additional leaking.
In addition, because the cleaning and maintenance of the drain strainer assembly 30 requires the withdrawal of the strainer member 34 from the housing 32 in the lateral direction 40, it can be difficult for crew members or other users to gain access to the strainer member 34 while working in the limited space typically available in the galley 10. Furthermore, a sufficient area must be reserved on the support wall 18 to accommodate the withdrawal of the strainer member 34 from the housing 32. This area, referred to as the “extraction envelope” of the drain strainer assembly 30, requires a lateral dimension, d3, of approximately twice the width of the housing 32. The area required by the extraction envelope of the drain strainer assembly 30 is not available for any other components or structures. Thus, the lateral withdrawal of the strainer member 34 from the housing 32 may impose undesirable constraints on the overall design of the galley 10, where space is often at a premium. Accordingly, it may also be desirable to simplify the procedures involved in cleaning and maintaining the drain strainer assembly 30.